Shoutout to the prop master on that indie shoot in Austin who showed me how to distress leather with a cheese grater and coffee grounds.

I was trying to make a 19th century journal look authentically worn, and after watching her work for an hour, I realized the best aging comes from combining simple household items, not expensive specialty tools.

2 comments

2 Comments

mila_mitchell6d ago

Read a blog post about using tea bags to stain paper. Gives it a nice yellowed look without being too uniform. The cheap stuff works just as well as fancy artist tea.

margaretf406d ago

My old sketchbook got that look from leftover breakfast tea.